Top 10 China sports news stories in 2007

BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Following are the top 10 Chinese sports stories in 2007 selected by the Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday:

1. Preparations for the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games have been going on smoothly.

In 2007, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Games (BOCOG) unveiled the medal design, torch design, and the routes for the torch relay for next year's Olympics and Paralympics.

All the venues except for the National Stadium have been completed by the end of the year, and the ticket sales for the 2008 Olympic Games was also launched domestically.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge paid tributes to the work done by Beijing, saying the local organizers have worked extremely hard to give Beijing an Olympic shape.

2. China hosted Asian Winter Games and women's soccer World Cup.

The Asian Winter Games were held in the cities of Changchun and Jilin, Northeast China's Jilin province in February and the women's World Cup was staged in five Chinese cities in September.

The World Cup boasted a full-capacity crowd and good-quality matches, but some of the matches had to be postponed due to typhoon.

3. Two badly hurt Chinese athletes sparked concerns over sports safety.

China's 15-year-old female gymnast Wang Yan and men's volleyball spiker Tang Miao were badly hurt less than a week apart in June, causing nationwide debates over sports safety in competition and practice.

4. Yi Jianlian joined NBA.

Yi Jianlian became the fourth Chinese player in history to join NBA after he was picked up by the Milwaukee Bucks on June 28. He made his NBA debut on October 9.

5. Test events for the Olympic Games won high praises.

Twenty-six "Good Luck Beijing" events, which aimed to test the Olympic venues, the competition organizing, the BOCOG's administration, air quality, transportation, and etc., have been held since the summer in the Olympic host cities, including Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Shenyang, Qingdao and Hong Kong.

6. China enacted Temporary Provisions on the Employment of Athletes.

The Chinese government has enacted and put into practice the Temporary Provisions on the Employment of Athletes since the September, serving as an emphatic measure to guarantee the Chinese athletes' rights and groom more excellent prospects.

7. Coaches of Chinese men's and women's soccer teams were both changed.

Home coach Zhu Guanghu was sacked after Chinese men's team was eliminated from the Asian Cup group stage while Swede Marika Domanski quit her post for "health, family and social reasons" after leading the women's national squad to the World Cup quarterfinals on home turf.

Former Dalian Shide head coach Vladimir Petrovic was named the executive coach of the men's team in September and Elizabeth Loisel, former France coach, took over the equally struggling women's side.

8. World Summer Special Olympics were held in Shanghai.

A record 7,291 athletes from 164 countries and regions took part in the 21-sport Special Olympics World Summer Games slated for Oct. 2-11 in Shanghai, with the eldest aged 69 and the youngest at 8.

Marking the first time the Games have been held in Asia, it also welcomed 2,302 trainers, more than 20,000 family members of the intellectual disabled athletes, celebrities, VIPs and some 40,000 volunteers from all over the world.

With the goal to help bring all persons with intellectual disabilities into society, the 10-day Games featured activities like "Global Summit for Health and Welfare of People with Intellectual Disabilities," "Global Youth Summit" attended by both intellectually disabled youths and regular youths and "Global Family Forum".

9. The 6th City Games were held in Central China's Wuhan.

The 6th Chinese City Games were held from Oct. 25 to Nov. 3 in Central China's Wuhan. The Games attracted 6,300 competitors from 74 delegations across the nation, contending in 288 events of 24 sports, most of which are among the Olympic program.

10. The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency was launched.

China launched the Anti-Doping Agency including a world-level laboratory serving the Olympic Games in November. The agency, standing beside the old building of China Anti-Doping Center, will face its first major task in August next year when about 4,500 doping tests will be carried out here during the Beijing Olympics.